THE RANK 70TH ANNIVERSARY
DVD BOX SET
Released: July 2005
RRP: £29.99
Cat No: 3711509353
Granada Ventures celebrates
one of the most important British studios with the release of the limited
edition Rank 70th anniversary DVD box set containing 8 films from a golden
age of British film.
Rank Films was established
by Lord J Arthur Rank (1888 - 1972) in 1935 and throughout the 1930’s,
1940’s and 1950’s became one of the major powerhouses in the European film
industry. Lord Rank entered the film industry as a way of propagating his
Methodist faith through film. When he failed to get distribution of his
first film The Turn of The Tide in 1935 he set about acquiring not only
the means of production but also distribution and exhibition. By encouraging
small independent film makers such as Carol Reed, David Lean, Alfred Hitchcock,
Lauder and Gilliat and Powell & Pressburger and many others, he developed
films that could rival any from Hollywood while managing to consolidate
the demands of art and business. By 1946 the Rank organisation had over
33,000 employees, more than the newly established National Health System.
BRIEF
ENCOUNTER
Running Time:
88 mins
Video Aspect Ratio:
4:3
Back and White
DVD extras:
Biographies
Noel Coward’s 1945 classic
story of a brief and deeply moving romance staring Celia Johnson and Trevor
Howard. Directed by David Lean this sensitive portrayal of two married
lovers thrown together was a landmark in British film and is often described
as one of the most perfectly conceived films of all time by mixing realism
with high drama becoming the inspiration for generations of filmmakers.
THE 39 STEPS
Running Time: 106 mins
approx
Video Aspect Ratio
4:3
Black and White
DVD Extras: Biographies,
Stills Gallery, Documentary on Alfred Hitchcock’s Early Years
Based on John Buchan’s story
and directed by Alfred
Hitchcock in 1935 this is a classic suspense thriller. Starring
Oscar Winner Robert Donat as Richard Hannay, a man falsely accused of murder
who goes on the run with the police in full pursuit. With its mixture of
eroticism, black humour and sexual chemistry with the leading lady Madeleine
Carroll it makes it one of Hitchcock’s best early films and was voted by
the BFI as one of the top 5 British films of all time.
THE WICKED LADY
Running Time: 99 mins
approx
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Black and White
DVD Extras: Original
Theatrical Trailer
A bodice ripping romp starring
Margaret Lockwood as the wicked Lady Barbara, who will stop at nothing
to get her own way Set in merry Restoration England this hugely popular
film made a star of James Mason as the highwayman lover of Lockwood and
was viewed as being very suggestive when first released in 1945. A very
enjoyable costume drama, which celebrates the unleashing of social and
gender boundaries. Lockwood is excellent as the cool, calculating bitch
who wants everything from life and Mason shows her the way. Based on theatre
tickets this is also the 9th most popular film ever in the UK.
GENEVIEVE
Running Time: 110 mins
approx
Video Aspect Ratio:
4:3
Colour
DVD Extras: A profile
of Genevieve, Biographies, Still Galleries
This charming romantic comedy
was one of the hit films in 1953 winning a BAFTA for Best British Film
and receiving 2 Oscar nominations. Starring Dinah Sheridan, John Gregson,
Kay Kendall and Kenneth Moore and soundtrack by Larry Adler’s harmonica,
this story of a vintage car on the London to Brighton run made box office
stars of its young cast, With its winning mixture of light hearted comedy
it has become one of Britain’s most affectionately remembered films.
THE RED SHOES
Running Time: 153 mins
approx
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Colour
DVD Extras; Scenes Stills
Gallery, Theatrical Trailer, Documentary and The Ballet of the Red shoes
featurette
This Powell & Pressburger
classic film is considered the best dance films of all time. Starring Moira
Shearer as Vicky Page, a young ballerina who becomes torn between a life
in ballet and her love for her composer husband.
With its brilliant photography
by legendary Oscar winning cinematographer Jack Cardiff, the film won two
Academy Awards and is visually one of the most innovative and beautiful
British films of all time.
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
Running Time: 100 mins
approx
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Colour
DVD Extras: In depth biographies,
Documentary on cinematographer of Jack Cardiff
Written, produced and directed
by the legendry team of Powell and Pressburger, this classic film stars
David Niven as Squadron leader Peter Carter who survives a plan crash when
all his crew have died. Falling in love with radio operator June played
by Kim Hunter, a heavenly reaper visits Peter and claims he should have
died. A court in heaven is called and Peter has to fight for his right
for life.
A romantic fantasy and described
by Martin Scorsese as one the best movies of all time.
HAMLET
Running Time: 155 mins approx
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Black and White
Winner in 1948 of two Academy
awards for best film and best actor this is a tour de force for its star
the legendry Laurence Oliver. Delivering one his greatest Shakespearean
performances as Hamlet and co- starring Jean Simmons as Ophelia.
HENRY V
Running Time: 137 mins approx
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Colour
Directed, produced and starring
Laurence Olivier this 1945 production features a cast of the crème
de la crème of British Acting talent. Viewed as the definitive Shakespearean
film it spectacular colour and effects was filmed during the end
of the war and was viewed as a nationalistic call to victory.
The James Stewart Collection
Jimmy Stewart, one of the
best-loved stars American cinema ever produced and one of the greatest
screen actors in film history. He worked equally well in comedy, romance,
serious drama, westerns, war films and adventure movies: a true Hollywood
legend.
The James Stewart Collection,
feates five of his greatest films: Rear Window, Destry Rides Again, Vertigo,
Winchester 73 and Harvey. Five award winning, beloved and enduring
films in one stunning DVD collection, a must for all film fans. The collection
is released on DVD on 17 October 2005.
Rear Window
James Stewart stars alongside
Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock’s edgy suspense thriller. Holed up in his
tiny flat with a broken leg, photographer L.B.Jeffries (Stewart) turns
voyeur on his neighbours. And he soon becomes convinced that one neighbour
has murdered his wife…
Destry Rides Again
This hilarious Western satire
sees Stewart in the lead opposite Marlene Dietrich as Tom Destry, a supposedly
tough law enforcement man who doesn't like guns.
Vertigo
Stewart stars in Hitchcock’s
haunting tale of obsession and deceit. Stewart plays a retired police detective
who becomes swept up in a complex crime and falls for the wrong woman.
His obsession ends in tragedy in this truly spellbinding masterpiece of
cinema…The plot is tricky and in the cold light of day is very improbable
yet Hitchcock easily draws you along with Stewart into this murky story.
Stewart has never looked so haunted.
Winchester 73
One of Stewart’s most memorable
films, Anthony Mann's edgy, psychological western, Winchester '73 features
one of his most powerful performances as a man obsessed. The final deadly
shootout is spectacular and the film is one of the genre’s most enduring
classics.
Harvey
In this classic Hollywood
comedy Stewart plays Elwood P.Dowd a wealthy drunk whose sunny philosophy
and inebriated antics are tolerated by most of the townsfolk. That is,
until Elwood begins claiming that he sees a man-sized rabbit called Harvey…
Title: The James
Stewart Collection
Release Date: 17 October
2005
RRP: £39.99
Beatles' Biggest Secrets
They are the world’s greatest
ever pop band. A group who revolutionised pop music and changed the way
we all live forever. But behind the well-scrubbed faces was another darker
story of sex, drugs and rock and roll.
Fremantle Media announces
the release of Beatles’ Biggest Secrets, released for the first
time on 19 September, 2005.
Beatles’ Biggest Secrets
features never seen before footage including brand new, exclusive interviews
and explosive stories,†revealing the inside story of the most successful
band in pop history
The story begins with John
Lennon's death in1980, then tracks back to the early 1960s when four Liverpool
lads - Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon
– were performing in small dark sweaty clubs most notably The Cavern, where
they were spotted by Brian Epstein, who helped catapult them to superstardom.
The story follows their progress from the early days through to global
domination, showing the inside story warts and all.
This is the Beatles at their
best - and their worst!
Title: Beatles’ Biggest Secrets
Release Date: 19th September
2005
RRP: £12.99
Dead Man
"Dead Man is Jim Jarmusch’s
dark, bitter commentary on modern American life cloaked in the form of
a surrealist western," All Movie.com
For the first time ever on
DVD, comes the much sought after surrealist western Dead Man, directed
by pioneering director Jim Jarmusch, who has given us classics such as
the Elvis homage Mystery Train and the fantastic Down By Law. Dead Man
is released courtesy of Universal Pictures on 3 October 2005.
The film features a stunning
all star cast, with the remarkable Johnny Depp (Charlie And The Chocolate
Factory) in the lead role and appearances from Crispin Glover (Charlie’s
Angels), John Hurt (Harry Potter), screen legend Robert Mitchum (Cape Fear),
Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects) and Lance Henriksen (Aliens). There
are also cameos from Iggy Pop, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfred Molina and a
blink-and-you’ll-miss-it uncredited appearance from Steve Buscemi.
Set in 19th century America,
in the Wild West town of Machine, where the only law is kill or be killed,
a recently orphaned Cleveland man named William Blake (Depp), arrives on
the train to take up the position of factory accountant. But upon
his arrival, Blake is told by the factory owner (Mitchum) that the job
has already been filled. He becomes a fugitive after murdering a man in
self-defence. Wounded and helpless, Blake is befriended by Nobody (Gary
Farmer), a wandering Native American who considers him to be a ghostly
manifestation of the similarly named poet. Nobody aids Blake in his flight
from three bumbling bounty hunters, preparing him for his final journey
a return to the world of the spirits.
The beautifully contrasted
black-and-white photography of Robby M¸ller sets a poetic, dreamy
mood and the astounding Neil Young soundtrack (“Haunting electric guitar
score” Time Out Film) adds to the depth.
The disc will be available
exclusively from Virgin until January 3, 2006.
Title: Dead Man
Release Date: 3 October
2005
RRP: £15.99
Second Sight
“With his trademark shock
of white hair and ultra-cool rock star persona, Jim Jarmusch is the archetypal
auteur of American independent film. Steadfastly resisting the sirens of
Hollywood, Jarmusch has fashioned stylish, worldly, and thoroughly hip
movies that have been the toast of the international film circuit” allmovie.com
Second Sight is delighted
to announce the release of 2 Films By Jim Jarmusch featuring a pair
of his fantastic films Night On Earth and Down By Law. These critically
acclaimed unique and stylish comedies, a must for all hip film fans, are
released on DVD on 17 October 2005.
Night On Earth is
Jarmusch’s slick original comedy, featuring a collection of five vignettes
set in the enclosed space of a cab ride, each occurring simultaneously
in five different cities and five different time zones: Los Angeles, New
York City, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki. Starring an all star cast including
Winona Rider (Girl Interupted), BÈatrice Dalle and Roberto Benigini
(Life Is Beautiful)
“The beauty in life is in
small details not big events” Jim Jarmusch
“Jarmusch again demonstrates
his mastery of comedy of the oblique”
New York Times
Down By Law is the
film that firmly established Jim Jarmusch as the coolest director on the
American Independent scene. Three unlikely convicts find them selves thrown
together in a New Orleans jail cell. There’s Zack (Tom Waits) an out-of-work
DJ, Jack (Jack Lurie) a pimp and Roberto (Roberto Benigni), a crazy Italian
immigrant. The three mismatched men team up for an unlikely jail break.
“The music (by Waits and Lurie) and mood are essential components to Jarmusch's
poetry”. Time Out
“The film's most delightful
triumph is to demonstrate that 'Ees a sad an'
beautiful world” Time Out
I would call the style of
the film ‘neo-beat-noir-comedy’, with a story-line that openly accepts
conventions and an atmosphere that is part nightmare and part-fairy tale”
Jim Jarmusch
Title: 2 Films By Jim Jarmusch
Release Date: 17 October 2005 RRP: £24.99
Fever
Who Can You Trust…When You
No Longer Trust Yourself?
For the first time on DVD
comes Alex Winter’s critically acclaimed dark psychological thriller Fever,
starring Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives). A moody, paranoid thriller
that tracks the psychological unraveling of a young man living alone in
New York City. It will be available to own on DVD courtesy of Parasol Peccadillo
on 3 October 2005.
Struggling artist Nick Parker
(Henry Thomas),pays the bills by teaching drawing to the elderly. Living
in a squalid Brooklyn apartment Nick avoids contact with his family, including
his sister Charlotte (Teri Hatcher). The murder of his landlord sets off
a chain of troubling events. But are they real… or do they take place in
Nick's imagination?
Winter, working hand in hand
with cinematographer Joe DeSalvo (Johnny Suede), creates a stylish, claustrophobic
world that is revealed strictly from Nick's scattered point of view. In
maintaining this distorted vision, Winter allows the audience to truly
view the story through Nick's muddled eyes, resulting in an eerie, dark
thriller. Thomas’ persuasive dread soaked performance keeps you gripped
until the very end.
Winter is best known for
his role opposite Keanu Reeves in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, but
he honed his directing skills on commercials and music videos, as well
as directing off-the-wall comedy Freaked.
Title: Fever
Release Date: 26 September 2005 RRP: £19.99 Cat
No: PPD102
Wild Side
Parasol Peccadillo is delighted
to announce the release of French director Sebastien Lifshitz’ provocative
drama Wild Side, a stunning thought-provoking story about a love triangle
with a difference. It will be available to own on DVD on 3 October 2005.
Stephanie (StÈphanie
Michelini) lives in Paris, where she moved many years ago to start a new
life as a woman. Now working as a prostitute, she shares her love between
two men: Mikhail, an unemployed Russian immigrant and Jamel, a street hustler.
The trio, battling with the harsh realities of their lives, find solace
in each other’s arms.
When she receives a call
from her terminally ill mother, the trio return to the rural village where
Stephanie grew up. The bleak solitude of the countryside evokes a flood
of memories and emotions. Stephanie is haunted by her childhood as a boy
and by the early death of her sister, but with the support of her lovers,
she comes to terms with the events that have made her who she is today.
Exquisitely shot by AgnËs
Godard (Beau Travail) and with a haunting musical score by Jocelyn Pook
(Eyes Wide Shut), the landscape of the film evokes a time of tranquility
and past innocence.
With a stunning debut performance
from the lead, StÈphanie Michelini, and featuring I Fell In Love
With A Dead Boy performed by Antony from Antony And The Johnsons, Wild
Side explores and questions male identity in a sympathetic and non-judgemental
way. Ultimately it shows us how the new family is anything but nuclear
and instead is all about humanity, compassion and a sense of belonging.
Lifshitz gained international
critical acclaim in 1998 with his short Open Bodies (Les Corps Ouverts),
then went on to direct his first feature, Presque Rien (2000) followed
by The Crossing (La Traverse).
Title: Wild Side
Release Date: 5 September 2005 RRP: £19.99 Cat No:PPD101
